SAGE: YELLOW
by Rylak
Summary: Team SAGE has a dark secret, and Yang begins to suspect that her new friend is in on it. What does Junko know about her teammates? Rated M for despair and crazy people doing crazy things. No OC's at all. That means team SAGE are all preexisting characters, so have fun guessing.
1. Prologue To A Burning Mind

An armored fist smashed into the teens face, splattering blood onto the ground around her. The strong hand grabbed her by her strawberry blond hair and lifted her off the ground. The high-powered gauntlets propelled the fist into her face again, sending blood flying through the air. She spun around and collapsed onto the ground.

Deep in the forest, a blond-haired teenage girl died on the ground after being severely beaten. Standing over her body was another girl, the same age as her. The other girl had golden blond hair flowing down her back, though it now had blood splashed on it.

She clenched her fist as she watched the body carefully, talking to the departed teen. "This is your own fault. Why couldn't we all just be friends?" She grabbed her head and fell to her knees, crying out. "Now there's only one of us left!"

The midday air of the forest was filled with mad laughter as the young woman slowly let madness and despair fill her mind. The laughter soon turned to a sound well near screeching, the substance in her body warping her mind into insanity.

* * *

"Hey. I'm talking to you."

Yang turned to see whoever it was that claimed to be talking to her. "Okay. So, I have to listen, right?"

The other girl didn't look very special when it came to her clothes. She was just wearing a yellow t-shirt and blue pants. She had a white shirt or something tied around her waist by the sleeves, but nothing much else. The single most notable thing about her, as far as Yang was concerned, was her light green hair done up in a ponytail.

The girl fixed Yang with her deep green eyes. "I asked you what the hell you're wearing."

Yang looked down at herself briefly, wondering what could possibly be wrong with her outfit. After determining that nothing was wrong, she looked back up to the green-haired girl. "I'm wearing awesome clothes. What are you wearing?"

She crossed her arms, annoyed. "Normal clothes. You know, like normal people wear."

Yang smirked. She had no idea who this girl was, but she deserved to be taught a lesson. She didn't mean that in a mean way, either. Plain and simple, this girl had obviously missed something or misplaced her wording. "If you're so normal, then why are you at Beacon? This school is for special people."

Green, that's what Yang decided to call her, started fuming. "Of course I'm special! I'm awesome! I just don't need to go flashing around in a randomly pieced together costume so that other people will notice me!"

Yang noticed someone she did know walking past, so she grabbed their arm and pulled them over. "Come here and meet my new friend!"

Weiss shoved Yang off of her. "Just because I'm your sister's partner doesn't mean I like you. Anyone who's a friend of yours is probably not someone I want to meet."

Yang rolled her eyes. "Oh, well, then you two should get along splendidly. Weiss Schnee, meet boring loud green-headed girl!"

Weiss sighed and held out her hand to the other girl, out of spite for Yang more than anything else. "Perhaps we will..." She accepted and they shook hands.

Yang threw up her hands in defeat. "Whatever. Have fun!" She turned and walked away. She wandered across the courtyard in front of Beacon Academy, looking for someone more fun to talk to. Eventually she spotted her little sister, and Weiss' partner, and called over to her.

Ruby Rose looked up from her conversation to see her sister running over. "Oh, hey, Yang! What are you up to?"

The people around Ruby also moved their attention to Yang. There was Jaune and his partner Pyrrha, but there was another girl Yang didn't recognize. She was wearing what looked like a stereotypical schoolgirl uniform, but Yang found her hair more strange. There was no discernible style or pattern in it as far as she could tell, but it was bright pink and therefore it was weird.

The girl noticed Yang's critical eye and blushed. "Aww, please don't ask me why I'm wearing this. My teammates make fun of my clothes enough."

Yang shrugged. "Then why don't you wear something else?"

She grabbed at the hem of her skirt and tugged at it, causing Jaune to turn red when she absentmindedly tugged it up a bit too far. She looked to Ruby for some sort of help. "Well... I don't know, I just sort of like it."

Ruby jumped to her defense. "Everybody should be allowed to wear whatever they want, don't you think?"

Yang smiled. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Besides, I just met some grouchy girl who didn't like what I was wearing. I think she was just jealous, though. Her clothes were pretty boring."

Pink, that's what Yang decided to call her, clasped her hands together behind her back. "Did she have green hair?"

Yang was confused for a moment, but she quickly shook it off. "Uh, yeah. Why?"

The girl grinned at her. "Oh, okay, she's a member of my team. She's like that a lot, but I think she might actually be pretty nice too."

"Yeah, well, heads up." Yang pointed over her shoulder with her thumb. "I may have sparked a friendship between her and Weiss. Ruby, you should watch out too."

Ruby sulked. "Gee, thanks Yang." She brightened up. "I guess if Weiss has some real friends she might be nicer..."

The pink-haired girl ran off to join some other friends, so Yang turned to Pyrrha. "Hey, have you seen Blake around?"

Before Pyrrha could answer, Blake's voice came from behind Yang. "You told me to come with you. You haven't gone anywhere yet, so I was about to just leave. What did you want?"

Yang spun around to face her partner. "You were behind me the whole time? Why didn't you say anything?"

Blake was holding a book, reading it as well as she could while talking to Yang. "I thought you wanted to tell me something."

Yang froze. "I... I did? I don't remember doing that." Blake turned and started walking away, but Yang called after her. "Hey, that doesn't mean I don't want to talk to you about something!"

Blake kept walking. Yang turned around to see the others had all left too. She slapped her palm to her face. "Darn it, now what?"

"Hey! You all alone?"

Yang looked up to see another girl. She had strawberry blond hair done up behind her in two ponytails with black and white bear-shaped hair clips. She wore a black shirt, a red miniskirt, and a tie. The tie was mostly white, but ended in black and had a red circle with a line through it intersecting the border from black to white. She watched Yang with wide blue eyes.

"Are you alone, or what?"

Yang stood up straight, trying to look like she hadn't just been abandoned by her friends. She smiled. "I seem to be. How about you?"

The girl shrugged and held her hand out to Yang. "I'm Junko Enoshima. Nice to me you!"

Yang took her hand and shook. "Yang Xiao Long... just call me Yang."

"Alright. Hello, Yang!"

* * *

**Author's Note: **I hope you enjoyed the opening scene for my SAGE series. Yes, SAGE is a team. No, they are not OC's. We see three of them here, but we only get one of their names. This will be a dark story, if you couldn't tell by the opening scene, and there will be death, but don't despair! There is always hope.

I lied! There's no such hope!

I'd love to see what you all think of this story as I post more and more!


	2. Missing Girl!

"Yang."

"Oh, forget her. We've got to get going."

"We can't just leave her here. Not with what's happened."

"We need to move! Now! Waiting for Yang to wake up could take hours!"

"She'd probably... actually, I don't know how much pain she would inflict if you left her out of this."

Yang finally opened her eyes. "Oi! Would you three keep quiet? I'm trying to sleep!"

Blake sighed. "There's only two of us here, Yang."

Yang glanced around, still half asleep. She saw Blake and Weiss. "Where's Ruby?" She looked out the window to see nothing but black. "What time is it?"

Weiss was at the door, her hand on the knob. She looked ready to run around the school for a few hours. "It's two in the morning, and we haven't seen Ruby since classes ended. We were about to go out looking for her, but Blake wanted a third person for the search party."

Yang shot out of her bed and got dressed, finishing by equipping Ember Celica. "Who saw her last?"

Blake raised her hand. "Of us, I think I did. We should wake team JNPR and ask them."

"And waste more time?" Weiss opened the door and stepped out. "We should have already left!"

Yang nodded to Blake. "You go get them. I'll make sure Weiss doesn't get lost."

Blake shrugged. "They're right across the hall..."

Yang ran out into the hall and chased after Weiss. When she caught up, Weiss had almost reached an door that led to the courtyard. She had Myrtenaster drawn, pointed at the darkness around her. She was facing away from the door.

Yang slowed down and started walking up to her. "Hey. What's going on?"

Weiss shushed her. Yang stopped and just watched. Weiss' eyes were focused on the dark around them. She was scanning the black shadows, as if looking for something she knew was there. After about a minute of silence, Yang broke into Weiss' concentration.

"So... what's up?"

Weiss growled, glanced sideways at the blond girl. "Something rushed past me. I think it's still there, watching us."

"Huh?" Yang peered into the darkness, trying to see something. It didn't take long for her to give up. "Maybe it's Ruby playing a prank on us."

Weiss shot her a glare. "Your sister isn't capable of being that quiet."

"Of course she is. She goes to sleep, doesn't she?"

"She talks in her sleep..." Yang rolled her eyes, but Weiss added more. "...when she isn't snoring. Actually, sometimes she does both at the same time. Besides, there wasn't any sound at all. Not even footsteps..."

A few seconds passed before Yang gave a short laugh. "Aren't you the dramatic one? I'm going to check outside. You coming?"

Weiss nodded slowly. "I don't want to have to explain you disappearing to Blake. Open the door. I'll watch your back."

"Right..." Yang opened the door anyway, stepping out into the night air. She could hear Weiss close the door behind her, so she kept walking. She looked out over the courtyard before deciding to walk along the path beside the pond.

After a few minutes, she realized she hadn't actually looked behind her since she stepped outside, and she hadn't seen or heard Weiss in that time. She was about to turn and look when she heard something moving in the trees at the side of the path. Whatever it was, it sounded bigger than a bird or a squirrel.

She quickly glanced behind her, confirming that Weiss was no longer following her. She had no idea when they had gotten separated, or if Weiss had even followed her at all. Deciding it was up to her to find out what was in the trees, she determined the best first move was a warning shot. She aimed Ember Celica into the trees and fired. The sound echoed across the courtyard, as did the sound that followed. The second sound was a short, wet cough. Something fell out of the trees and landed with a thud.

Yang grimaced. "So much for warning shot..." She walked over to the dark lump on the ground, keeping her weapon aimed at it. It was still moving, so she decided to inquire as to it's identity. "You're under arrest for scaring the crap outta me. Identify yourself or suffer further warning shots."

A hand shot up into the air, holding something shaped like a gun. The weapon had a blade attached to it and was connected to a ribbon. She recognized it as Gambol Shroud. The voice that came next was Blake's, but it strangely came from up in the tree.

"I can't believe you just shot me, Yang."

Yang looked up to see Blake resting on a large branch. She blinked in confusion. "Then who is..." She looked back down to see Weiss sitting up. Yang put her hand to her face. "What just happened?"

Weiss stood and tossed Gambol Shroud back up to Blake, then crossed her arms and glared at Yang. "I heard something in the trees while I was following you. I went to check it out and you started shooting at me. You hit Blake, who was making the noise I heard, and she fell on top of me. I tried to grab onto something to keep me from falling out of the tree, but... Blake wasn't really holding on to it anymore."

Yang looked up at Blake, who looked dazed but otherwise fine. "I am so unbelievably sorry. Are you alright?"

Blake just stared down at them. "You shoot fire, Yang. It hurts a bit, but doesn't really do anything more than that. I'll be fine."

"You're sure?"

"I've been punched by a Deathstalker. I think I can take a little punishment before I'm down." She jumped out of the tree and landed beside her partner. "But I think you might have burnt my hair."

Yang shook her head. "Again, I'm sorry. I thought you were going to get JNPR. Where are they?"

"Oh, they're searching inside with everyone else. Out here, it's just the three of us, Professor Ozpin, and Cardin's team."

Weiss arched an eyebrow. "You woke up everyone?"

Blake frowned. "Nora did."

Yang just shrugged. "Oh well. It won't take nearly as long to find her this way. Why is CRDL looking out here?"

Blake pointed across the pond. When Yang and Weiss followed her finger, they saw the team of boys on the other side of the water. They looked like they were trying to see if there was anything under the surface. Blake explained what they were up to.

"Cardin said he thought he saw someone out here from his window. According to him, they were at the edge of the pond. He looked away for a moment, and when he looked back they were gone, but the water was rippling."

Weiss and Yang shouted at the same time, right at Blake. "They think Ruby fell in the water?!"

Blake's bow flattened seemingly on it's own, and she winced, but neither of them noticed. They had already rushed to the edge of the pond, and before anyone could stop her, Yang dived in.

In the day the surface of the pond was bright blue, but this night it was pitch black. Beneath the surface was, if anything, darker. Yang pulled herself further down with strong strokes, finding very quickly that it was deeper than she had anticipated. Regardless, she soon touched the bottom. It was then that she realized she couldn't see anything.

She thought to use her aura to light the way, but her fire would heat up the water and boil her alive. Instead, she found herself feeling around on the bottom, hoping she wouldn't find Ruby. Her fingers grabbed onto rocks and clumps of dirt, anything to pull herself along with. She could hold her breath for a good length of time, but that time was beginning to run out. She hadn't found anything, and she hoped that pattern would repeat no matter how long she searched.

She was about to go back up for air when her hand touched something that was neither dirt nor stone. It was a hand, resting lifelessly on the bottom of the pond. She moved her hand up the arm, only able to hope she wouldn't recognize the feel of the clothes. She came to the shoulder and then went to the neck, quickly realizing that there were no clothes to be felt. She tried for the next thing she could think of and went to feel the hair, only to cry out when her fingers slipped into the spot where the head should have been.

She quickly gulped for more air, but only got water. Before she could drown, however, strong arms wrapped around her stomach and pulled her up. She briefly fought against the person, grabbing their face and pushing them away, but felt the small pair of glasses that was now in her hands.

They broke the surface near the opposite end of the pond from where she had entered. She coughed and sputtered, but managed to swim to the edge on her own. She crawled out onto the land and collapsed at Weiss' feet.

Professor Ozpin sat down beside her, just as soaked as she was. "I trust that was an enlightening venture." Yang pounded the ground angrily with her fist, then stood up. Ozpin just sat there. If he had had a mug of coffee, he would have sipped it right then.

Yang looked around, seeing Russel Thrush and Dove Bronzewing not far off. The other two members of team CRDL were nowhere to be seen, and to Yang's displeasure, neither was her own partner. She turned back to Weiss, noting that the other girl didn't have a spot of water on her.

Weiss frowned. "It's impossible to see anything down there, isn't it?"

Yang shoved some drenched bangs out of her eye, then answered. "I couldn't see anything, but I didn't need to. There's someone down there."

Weiss just stared at her. "Do you... think it's Ruby?" She was trying not to show actual concern, but she choked partway through.

Yang sat back down and slowly shook her head. "I... I don't know. She was... she was stripped... and decapitated."

Ozpin sighed and stood up, grabbing his cane. "I would hate to think anyone would do something like that to someone like Ruby, but if we can't find her..."

Weiss backed away from the pond, shaking her head. "No... it can't be Ruby. No one would do that to her. Who would ever do something like that? It's not her. It can't be!"

"Yang!"

At the sound of her name being called, she snapped back to reality. She looked up to see Junko running towards them. Normally, she would have waved to her friend, but the circumstances had sapped her of her energy. She just waited for Junko to say something.

Weiss beat her to it. "Did you find Ruby?"

Junko stopped, thought a moment, then shook her head. "I don't know. My teammates said they found something you'll want to see and they told me to come get you. I guess it could be Ruby..."

Yang jumped up and ran towards the school, grabbing Junko and pulling her along. "Then let's go!"

Once they got inside, Yang let Junko lead her. Lights all over the school had been turned on, and like Blake had said, everyone was searching. If Ruby was in the building, she would have already heard them calling her name. Junko led her down flights of stairs, until they were far underground.

Yang skidded to a halt right behind Junko. She looked around at the old stone walls, noting that the light down here was produced by really old light fixtures. She glanced sideways at Junko. "Geez, I didn't know the school was this old..."

Junko shrugged, turning another corner. "Oh, there they are!" She waved happily at the three other members of her team.

Yang eyed them warily, noticing that they were gathered around an old door. She mentally identified the girls as "green-head", "blunette", and "pink-haired girl". She knew their team name was SAGE, but had no clue what their names were other than Junko.

She would have been suspicious, but the pink-haired girl seemed nice enough and she hadn't even met the blunette before. She turned back to Junko. "What were you guys even doing down here?"

The green-head glared at her. "She's your sister. You're not even concerned that she might have gotten lost down here?"

Yang shook her head. "Okay, sorry... what did you find?"

The blunette pointed at the door, but it was Junko that spoke. "You should take a look in there."

Yang took their advice and opened the door, stepping into the small room. She knew it was a mistake as soon as the door closed behind her and a sharp needle was jabbed into her neck. Everything went black.


	3. Framed!

"...think she killed her own sister? I have a hard time believing that, especially with how close those two were."

Yang shot up into a seated position, then became dizzy. She rested her forehead in her hands for a few moments. Her head was swimming, and her body didn't feel much better.

"I don't want to believe it either, but there's no one else it could be!"

Yang blinked a few times, trying to adjust to the darkness. She placed her hands on the ground so she could push herself to her feet, but she slipped and fell back down. The ground was wet. She grumbled unhappily.

"You said you wanted to show her something in this room, right? What was it you found?"

Yang looked up at the only door in the room. There wasn't much light on the other side, but the cracks around the edge of the door let small amounts through. The voice outside... was that Glynda Goodwitch?

"Well, we're not really sure, but it looked like Ruby's cloak..."

Yang looked around, unable to see anything red in the low level light. She decided it was a lie that they were telling Glynda. There was nothing in the room that resembled Ruby's cloak... her hand brushed something made of cloth. It was soaked through, but she knew the feel of the material.

"What are we going to do about this, Ms. Goodwitch? We can't just let her get away with this!"

Yang shook her head. Was that Weiss' voice? What were they talking about out there? She shrugged it off, focusing on the potential hint to Ruby's whereabouts. She activated her aura just enough to cast a small light around the room, the flame sprouting from the palm of her hand.

"We certainly can't, but I need to be sure that she's guilty before we pass judgment."

By the light of her aura, Yang could see the cloak. It was mostly lumped in a pile, but she could tell it was Ruby's. She went to pick it up, but something else caught her eye. Her hand was red. Her eyes moved to the floor, widening when she realized that she hadn't been lying in water. The floor, the cloak, her hands, her clothes, her body, her hair... it was all soaked in blood.

"She wasn't underwater for very long, and yet she managed to find a body. I think she knew where to look. I'd bet that she's counting on people thinking that she would never hurt Ruby. That way we'll be looking for someone else while she is free to do whatever she wants behind our backs!"

Yang reached out again and grabbed the cloak, lifting it out of the corner. She could feel that there was something underneath it, and she knew it was something she didn't want to see. Looking around the cloak, her fears were confirmed. Sitting in the corner of the room, staring up at her through dead eyes, was the head that had been missing from the body in the pond.

"Let's hear her out first, alright?"

Yang turned her aura off, then reached out and grabbed the head by the hair and slowly lifted it. She held it up in front of her so that she could see the face as well as possible. After a few moments, she allowed herself a sigh of relief. It wasn't Ruby.

But then... where was Ruby?

The door opened, and Yang turned to face whoever was entering. She saw Ms. Goodwitch, backed by Weiss and Junko. All three froze when they saw her, as she was covered in blood and holding a disembodied head in her hand. She could tell in an instant what they were thinking. She could see it in their eyes... except Junko's. There was something else, but Yang couldn't place it.

One thing was certain. She had been framed, and she would never prove her innocence unless she escaped these three. She needed to act quickly.

Weiss managed to find her tongue first. "Yang... what is this?"

Yang looked down at the red cloak in her hand, then to the head in her other hand. She glanced back up at Weiss. "I don't know..." She couldn't lose the cloak, and she really didn't want to hold onto a head, so her next move seemed obvious. "Catch!"

She tossed the head at Glynda, who jumped back out of the room to avoid getting hit by the grisly object only to reach forward and catch it before it hit the ground for some reason Yang couldn't even guess. Regardless, Yang took the opportunity to dash through the door and down the hall. Weiss chased after her, calling her name, but Yang wasn't going to stop. She turned a corner, then another, hoping that she was heading in the right direction. The last thing she wanted was to get lost down here.

Sure enough, she found herself at the end of a hallway with nowhere to go other than back. She turned and ran back to the nearest turn, which thankfully had one other route she could take. She noticed a door not far down that hall, so she went to it and opened it. She stepped into the dark room and, not wanting to be followed, closed the door behind her.

She lit a small fire in the palm of her hand and held it over her head. The light revealed that this room was somewhat larger than the one she had been tricked into before. She checked the floor before venturing further in, letting herself breathe again when she didn't see blood.

There was a small archway that led to another room. Once Yang determined that the entrance room was empty, she moved into the next room. This one was larger and more rectangle-shaped. More than that, there were things strewn about the room, as well as a few old wooden tables. Two of the tables were set parallel to each other, while a third was set just behind them.

Upon closer inspection, these tables turned out to have straps on them for holding a person down, and she judged by the setup that the two captives beside each other would be unable to see the third. Upon even closer inspection, she regretted looking so close that she could see the fresh blood that had stained the wood on two of the tables. The separate table had some gruesome bits of neck left on it as well.

Yang thought it obvious what had happened in this room just recently. Someone, possibly more than one person, had been murdered. She was sure that she had already found the corpse of one person, but who it could have been eluded her. It wasn't Ruby, and right now that was all she cared about.

She looked down at the red cloak in her other hand, then realized something. If this was indeed Ruby's cloak, then whoever committed this heinous act also held Ruby captive. She was getting closer to the truth. Closer to rescuing her sister.

Her ears picked up the sound of water dripping. She was sure that sound had just started. There had been no dripping until just this moment. The sound suddenly disappeared again, followed by the rippling of water. Yang looked in the direction of the sound, shining the light from her flame toward it as well. She took a few steps forward and saw what appeared to be a small puddle of water. She could at least tell that it wasn't blood, which was always a relief even if the room was already the site of at least one terrible murder.

She stepped to the edge of the puddle and looked above it. There were no signs of any leaks, so she looked down. At any other angle it seemed like a shallow little puddle, but from directly over it she could see that it was deep enough for a person to hide in it. There was even a faint blue glow coming from somewhere at the bottom, revealing the entrance to an underwater tunnel.

"That leads to the pond outside. Go through it and wait for me in the forest. I'll be there just before sunrise."

Yang spun around and found herself face to face with Junko. At first, she couldn't think of anything to say, but words managed to slowly form in her head. "Do... do you know where Ruby is?"

Junko frowned and shook her head. "No, but I'm pretty sure she's not down there." She nodded to the not-puddle. "I don't have time to explain what I think is going on right now. Weiss and Ms. Goodwitch will be through that door any moment now, and if they know about that tunnel they'll probably freeze it solid to get you. I won't tell them you were here, but you have to go now."

Without any more time to think about it, Yang went to the water and only briefly glanced back to Junko. She nodded her thanks, the slid in as quietly as she could. She would never know if Junko was telling the truth about the others being right behind her.

The water was cold, but that was to be expected. As Yang plunged closer to the bottom, the light from the tunnel became more visible. It was still rather dark, but at least she would be able to navigate. She just hoped she would be able to reach the end before she could no longer hold her breath.

Ducking into the tunnel and pushing herself along, she began to notice shapes moving in the shadows ahead of her. Her mind started to wander, imagining all sorts of weird creatures that could be lurking down here. It wouldn't surprise her if she had to fight Grimm on top of everything else that had happened.

When she got closer she could identify four separate figures floating silently further down the tunnel. Her eyes widened and she almost gasped when she realized that these were people. She wanted out of here as soon as possible, so she pushed herself through the tunnel with all her strength.

Her foot caught on something, causing her to look down. She saw shattered fragments of weaponry. Among them was the familiar head of Magnhild and the twin Jade Dragons, Nora and Ren's weapons. Her eyes moved back up to the bodies floating in front of her, hoping she didn't know any of them.

One of the bodies had moved, prompting her to hope that someone was still alive. Whoever it was, they moved through the water in a thrashing manner. Their long hair floated all around them, obscuring whatever was behind them. They swam up to one of the other bodies, moving in close so that Yang couldn't make anything out. She started to swim toward them, hoping she would be able to help someone.

The long-haired figure turned sharply to look at her, it's eyes almost glowing from under the shadows covering it's face. Suddenly, it sped towards her. It was very definitely not Human, moving through the water like a shark. It reached forward and it's hands grew long claws. It opened it's mouth, revealing sharp fangs.

The creature was rewarded with Ember Celica right in it's face. Yang knew better than to activate her aura under water, but her weapon was perfectly safe. She watched with satisfaction as the monster spun through the water and hit the cave wall, but frowned when it bounced right back. Thankfully, it seemed to think better of the attack. It shot off through the water toward the other end of the tunnel.

Yang knew she had to follow if she wanted to get out, and she was running short on time, but she needed to find out who else was down here first. She swam up to the lifeless bodies and immediately regretted it. The first two were Cardin and Sky. She guessed they had gone into the pond and been attacked by that creature. That would explain why she didn't see them when Professor Ozpin pulled her out. The third one was Ren. Where the other two had been drowned, he looked like someone had hacked at him with a hatchet before taking him down here.

She didn't want to be down here any longer. She pushed past the dead boys and swam as fast as she could to the end of the tunnel. Sensing that she was about to run out of time and open her mouth only to swallow more water than she wanted, she propelled herself forward with a few shots from Ember Celica. Within seconds, she burst out of the tunnel and into the pond. A second more and she broke the surface.

She paddled over to the edge and climbed out, flopping over onto her back and taking a moment to rest and catch her breath. It took her a moment, but she eventually noticed Professor Ozpin standing over her with his mug of coffee.

Ozpin took a sip from his mug before speaking, sounding mildly amused. "You're the fourth person in a row to come crashing out of there. I don't remember that many people going in, never mind that I didn't see you come back outside."

She ignored him and pushed herself up, remembering what Junko had told her. She ran in the direction of the Emerald Forest, hoping she would be able to get answers soon.

The Professor called after her. "And you're the third one to come out of the pond and run in that direction without saying anything."

She didn't answer, but she assumed he then proceeded to take another sip of coffee. She didn't care. It was time for answers.

* * *

**Author's note: **This is actually shaping up at a much better pace than I anticipated. I just hope the last chapter, which is the next chapter, comes out right. It shouldn't take too long, but there are other things I need to work on.


	4. A Burning Mind

Yang's mind was racing as she ran through the forest. She had to figure out what was happening, save as many people as she could, and clear her name. None of those objectives, however, came before finding out what had become of Ruby. She skidded to a halt, that thought sticking in her mind.

Ruby.

She looked around her, hoping to see someone. Perhaps Professor Ozpin followed her into the forest. Maybe Blake or Weiss had caught up to her. Maybe Junko was earlier than expected. Maybe it was Ruby. She reached over her shoulder and flicked some of her hair idly, trying to think of who else might find her.

Ms. Goodwitch might hear her out. No, no, that wasn't right. She had seen Yang with that head. Weiss and Junko had seen it too, but Junko was willing to help her. Maybe the others would help her too. It might not be them anyway, she figured. It could be Jaune or Pyrrha, maybe even Nora or Ren... no... it couldn't be Ren...

Maybe she had seen wrong. She was panicking, or something like it, at the time. Maybe she assumed it was Ren, but it was actually someone else. Those weapons down in the tunnel meant nothing. They could have been faked, or stolen, or just been some other weapons that looked similar. Heck, that probably wasn't even Cardin and Sky.

That was it, she decided. All those murders had happened before the school year even began. There was no one she knew floating in some underwater cave beneath the school. The rest of the school had found Ruby and they were all back there waiting for her. They'd all solved the mystery without her and were back in the school.

But if they were in the school... then who was out here with her? She didn't think she was alone. No... she knew she wasn't alone. There was someone else out here. They were watching her, following her when she walked. Why were they following her? Did they know her? Maybe it was that guy from the club. Junior.

Or Grimm.

She suddenly felt like something was creeping up on her, getting closer, and if she turned it would move with her to stay out of sight. Something, or someone, was stalking her. She started to hope it was a person, not a Grimm. She wasn't sure why, but she didn't want to fight a Grimm right now.

She imagined that she would turn around and see a familiar figure walk out of the shadows, a red cloak flowing behind her. She would smile and say something comforting. _"You never even thought that it could have been me who killed all those people."_

That was wrong. That wasn't comforting. Ruby would never say something like that. Would she?

Or maybe she would.

Yang ducked down, turning slowly and scanning the area. Something was wrong. Everywhere she looked, she thought she saw someone else. A girl in a white dress, smiling proudly and waving her sword around. _"I caught you, and when I kill you for what you've done I'll be hailed as the greatest huntress of them all."_

That wasn't Weiss. It couldn't be. Weiss would never... Yang decided that Weiss might.

She quickly scrambled over to a nearby tree, hoping it would give her cover from most of the people surrounding her. She peered around the tree, but saw nothing. She looked the other direction and found herself facing a dark-haired girl wearing a bow on her head. _"You betrayed me. You betrayed all of us. You... fiend."_

...

She had to find Junko.

She had to run away from these thoughts and she had to find Junko and she had to explain everything and find out what was happening. She had to get some solid proof of her innocence before Blake killed her. Because Blake would. Sure she would. Why wouldn't she. Yang would...

Yang would kill Blake.

For Ruby, of course. She would do it for Ruby. She would kill her own partner for her little sister, because Blake deserved it after what she had done. Blake deserved to die for killing those people, and for trying to kill Yang. And especially for what she'd done to Ruby...

Another thought crept into her mind, one that she hated more than anything else. It was Blake and Ruby. They were in on it together, killing people. As Blake's partner, and as Ruby's sister, it was Yang's responsibility to put an end to this.

Weiss wouldn't want to let her, so she might have to beat some sense into the heiress for her own good. She wouldn't feel as bad about it if Weiss was in on it too. Of course! That was it! Weiss was the one who planned the whole thing. She had to be.

_"Don't be so surprised. This is what we've always done. The students who don't meet our standards are gotten rid of. The world has no use for less than perfect hunters and huntresses."_

She ignored what was obviously not Professor Ozpin, but thought about what it had said. That would make sense. If Ozpin thought Ruby and the others were really good, he'd have them prove it by making them kill weaker students. Of course Glynda would be in on it, but she somehow doubted all of the other teachers would know about it. Another thought crossed her mind. What if that was the whole purpose to getting partners. If you wanted to graduate, you had to kill your partner.

Yang started running, weaving around trees as silently as she could, listening carefully for any sound that might indicated Blake was on her tail. She ran around an old tree and ducked behind it, hoping it would throw her stalking off for a moment.

She sat down, panting hard. She needed to rest and straighten everything out in her mind. It briefly occurred to her that maybe, just maybe, everything really was alright. Everyone was fine and alive and safe, waiting for her to come back because it was getting close to breakfast time.

She looked around her, seeing more shapes moving in the shadows. She dismissed them as just her imagination running wild. There were no people walking out of the darkness, their weapons ready to strike. There were no red eyes glowering at her from the black veil of the night. She was alone. There wasn't a single real person anywhere.

She looked up and almost jumped out of her skin. She did jumped away from the tree, landing on her back. She waited for them to say something, to threaten her or reveal that they were behind everything. Something that would tell her it was another illusion or mirage or whatever they were. But it said nothing, and it didn't disappear.

She just hung there on the tree, blood dripping down her legs and soaking her clothes. She was pinned to the tree by a gold-colored spear that went through her chest and into the hard wood. Yang knew the spear, but she couldn't remember the silly name that Pyrrha had given it. She knew the girl pinned to the tree as well. The green-haired girl from Junko's team.

"Ah, gee... did you kill her too, Yang?"

Yang spun around to see Junko standing with her arms crossed. The girl's stance showed her to be displeased, but not angry. Her face, however, just seemed bored. Yang stepped away from the tree and the dead girl, but kept her distance from Junko.

The other blond's switched to a grin. "Kidding! I know it wasn't you! You haven't killed anyone at all!" Her smile took on a wicked look. "But I bet you're about to, right?"

Something clicked in Yang's mind. "You did all this."

Junko rolled her eyes. "Not all of it. I like to think I did my share."

Yang almost growled at her. "Did you kill Ruby?"

"Ruby?" Junko looked honestly surprised. "Why would anyone kill Ruby?" She stuck her tongue out and practically screamed at Yang. "Of course I did! I killed her first! And now everyone else is dead too!" She threw her head back, laughing madly.

A beam of light pierced through the trees, telling Yang that sunrise had finally come. Her hands clenched into fists, her finger nails digging into the palms of her hands. The air around her ignited with the flames of her enraged aura. She shouted at Junko, louder than she had ever shouted before. It drowned out her laughing, causing her to stop her tirade and take in what she was now facing.

"I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!"

Junko shrugged. "No shit. Told ya."

Yang rushed forward and slammed her fist into Junko's face as hard as she could, sending the girl flying into a tree. She stopped for a moment, thinking she had already killed Junko, only to hear her enemy starting to laugh again. She ran up to Junko and wrapped her arms around the girl's throat, slamming her into the tree over and over until the tree began to show signs of breaking, then throwing her to the ground.

Junko laughed, coughed up some blood, then laughed some more. "You're doing it, Yang! You're killing me!" Her excited tone suddenly gave way to a more condescending one. "It's gonna take a bit more to kill me, don't ya think! That was just fucking pitiful!"

"SHUT UP!" Yang let her aura run wild, scorching Junko, the forest around them, and even herself. She forced Junko down and raised her fist to strike, but first leaned in close to deliver one final message. "You killed everyone else, so no one can come and save you. Now it's just you and me. Soon it will just be me."

Junko just grinned up at her, blood spilling down her face. "Aren't you the least bit curious as to why we did this?"

Yang blinked, tears appearing in her eyes. "...Why?"

"Because..." She seemed like she was barely containing her laughter as she said it. "Because I want to see you despair." She burst into laughter, spraying blood at Yang's face. "And I can see it! This is perfect! The world will blame you for it all too! That should make you despair even more, right? AH HA HA HA HA!"

Yang brought her fist down, silencing Junko and cracking her skull. Her eyes went wide and a small whimper escaped her lips. Yang aimed lower, hitting her in the chest repeatedly until the girl was gasping for breath, then hitting her in the face again.

Blood splattered off Junko's face and onto the ground around them. Yang watched as Junko slowly faded closer to death. She was sure now that none of this was her fault. It wasn't Ruby's fault, or Weiss' fault, or Blake's. It wasn't anyone else's. The only ones to blame were Junko and her team. At least they were all dead. Junko had said so herself.

She grabbed a handful of strawberry blond hair and pulled Junko up. She wasn't about to let Junko die on her own. If she could get her most of the way there, she could get her all the way there. One last hit, and Junko spun several times before finally landing on the ground. It was over.

Now Yang was the only one left. She fell to her knees, watching Junko's body lying still. She shook her head. "This is your own fault." It was, after all. Junko was the one who made Yang kill her. Of course she regretted it. She would rather have everyone be good to each other. "Why couldn't we all just be friends."

There would be no answer. She knew that. There was no one left to answer. She screamed at the slowly rising sun. "Now there's only one of us left!"

It was true. She was the last one, out of everybody. She was truly alone.

"Yang?"

She had hoped these would go away once everything was settled, but it seemed that they were going to be persistent.

"Yang, are you alright?"

Where was this one going? Who even was it? Was it Blake? Weiss? Ruby? It didn't matter. She couldn't be fooled anymore. Everyone else was dead. She knew who was to blame, so there was nothing left to listen to from these visions... or whatever they were.

"Yang... listen. We found out what happened. It's time to head back to the school."

Why couldn't they just leave her alone. Everyone was dead. She had no more reason to live. There was no more protecting Ruby and there was no more avenging her either. It was all done.

"Yang, come on. It's time to go... We found Ruby."

This one was even trying to be cheerful. That was the worst part. It was nothing more than a hallucination, and it was trying to cheer her up when there was no more cheer to be had in the world. It wouldn't fool her, no matter how hard it tried...

There was a dark pounding sound at the back of her mind.

"Yang, I'm taking a step closer now."

Sure enough, it felt like something was getting closer. Every warning siren in her head was going off. It felt like a monster was behind her, inching closer and closer. It was ready to pounce.

"Yang, let's go."

She felt something touch her shoulder. She turned and shoved the beast away, grabbing at the nearest thing she could use as a weapon. She didn't look at the long object even as she pulled it off of the creature. Whatever it was, it felt good and balanced in her hand.

"Yang, what..."

Without a second thought, she rushed the monster and ran it through. The was a startled gasp from the beast. She pulled the weapon out and pushed it in again, gaining another sound of shock and pain. She drew the weapon out again, taking a long look at the long and narrow object stained in blood. She simply cast the dying beast aside.

A multitude of sounds reached her ears. It wasn't something coming for her this time. It was a great many somethings. She couldn't fight them all. She could try, but then she would risk being captured. She shook her head. It was time to end this. The Grimm would never capture her.

She held the weapon up, it's sharp tip pointed at her chest. They were getting closer, and she could see them in the distance. She looked up at the sun one last time. It was time to go.

* * *

Yang collapsed to the ground, the full length of Myrtenaster protruding from her back. Ozpin rushed to her side, his cane and mug long forgotten. After a few seconds, he realized it was too late to save her. He had someone else that needed attention. Yang had already gone.

A girl with darker hair ran to her and knelt down beside her, cradling Yang's head in her lap. A blond boy joined her, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. He couldn't say anything, so he just sat there with her. The girl just cried.

Ozpin picked up the girl that had been stabbed twice with the sword. "We need to get her back to the school. She won't last much longer without medical attention."

The girl stood up. "The rest of you go. I have something I need to finish."

Ozpin had already left, along with most of the rest of the search party. The boy nodded to her, finding words hard to come by. "Are... you sure you'll be alright alone?"

She just shook her head. "It doesn't matter. I have to stop the others."

The boy sighed and stood up, looking to the girl pinned to the tree. He found himself unsure of what he should do until the only other person present spoke to him. "Jaune. Leave it. It's no good. I could never use it again, knowing that it's taken Human life."

He nodded to his partner, still trying in vain to get over what had happened. He started running slowly, but eventually managed to match her speed as they ran back to the school, leaving the dark-haired girl to do what needed to be done.


End file.
